[July 18, 2014]MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican
authorities said they had identified human remains found in two black
plastic bags as a New York man who had disappeared in January while
riding his motorcycle to Brazil for the World Cup, an official said on
Thursday.

The badly decomposed remains that were discovered last week
near the Pacific beach resort of Zihuatanejo were identified as
Harry Devert by DNA tests, according to a spokesman for the
Guerrero state prosecutors office.

Devert worked as a stock trader and said on his website that he
had spent the last five years traveling. He had planned to ride
across Mexico and Central America to reach Brazil in time for
the recently concluded soccer World Cup.

He had last communicated with his girlfriend on Jan. 25 as he
traveled to Zihuatanejo, saying military troops had escorted him
out of a dangerous area, according to a Facebook page set up by
his friends.

Devert had been traveling through rural areas of western Mexico
where drug gangs control vast swathes of territory.